Little Brother, or Sort Of
by cassy1994
Summary: Jack has a problem, Les has a secret. Post-strike one shot and only seven years difference.


Title: Little Brother, or Sort Of.

Summary: Jack has a problem, Les has a secret. Post-strike one shot and only seven years difference.

I sat in the small apartment by myself. David and Sarah had taken Ma and Pa out to a fancy restaurant that had a age limit. I figure they were all old. I jumped when I heard a knock at the door.

I opened the door and felt my heart leap as I took in the sight of Jack. Sure that wasn't his real name but it didn't bother me none.

"David and Sarah aren't here." I said sullenly, 'cause that was the only reason Jack would come around.

He looked shocked, "They aren't? What about your folks?" He smell a little of beer and cigarette smoke.

"They ain't here either. How much you been drinkin', Jack?" I asked quietly.

He glanced around nervously. "I had a shot of whiskey with Race and Spot, then I realized they had started early and weren't even close to being done yet. They pretty much kicked me out when I told them they had already had enough."

"So you came to get drunk with David, or did you want to attempt to romance my sister into bed with you?" I was getting a little light headed, I liked Jack a lot more than any guy should like another guy, it didn't help that he only thought of me as a little brother.

His eyes flashed and pain crossed his face. "I don't want to do that to either of them, I was just hoping to talk to someone here about a problem I'm facing."

I rolled my eyes, and stepped aside, "Well come in, maybe I can help."

He looked even more nervous, but stepped inside and I thought I heard him mumble something about me being the problem.

He sat at the table and put his head down on his arms. "You want something to drink, Jack, water, alcohol?"

"No, thanks though, Les." I shuddered at the sound of my name from his lips, and sat down across from him.

"So, what's going against the strike hero now?" I asked.

Jack lifted his head and smiled at me, catching me off guard. "That was eight years ago, and you were as much a part of the strike as I was."

I shook my head, "Nah, that was mostly David, not me. But what's eatin' ya?"

Jack sighed and looked away. "How old are ya, Les?"

I growled internally, he wasn't going to answer my questions so why should I answer his, oh right because I love him. "I'm eighteen, you should know that Jack because you set up my birthday party."

He smiled still looking away, "Right, that explains a lot, you know."

This time the growl actually came out, "Of course, it does. Oi, Les, why did Jack come over tonight? Because I'm eighteen. Oi, what's eating Jack? I'm eighteen. Why won't Jack answer any questions about what's bothering him? Because I'm eighteen. See how much that explains, Jack, absolutely nothing."

I was slightly annoyed and I was letting it show because Jack couldn't see how much I liked him, he couldn't see how much it pained me when he took Sarah or David out even though they were both older than him.

Jack was facing me again, smiling at me. "It does explain those too. Just probably not the way you want it to." I gave him a pained look and he just continued. "You see, the way it explains them to you is that you're too young to understand why I won't answer questions about what's bothering me, you're too young to understand what's eating me and you're too young to understand why I came over tonight. But the way I see it, you're not too young and you've always understood."

"Right, I understand. You're just trying to get me to tell you where Sarah is so you can get some free pussy." I said angrily.

I watched as Jack visibly grimaced at the image that had brought him. "That is so opposite the reason why I came."

"Oh, so you were looking for David so he can give you some head?" I asked in the same tone.

Jack shook his head. "I really only wanted to talk to someone about the problem I have, and I'm finding it increasingly difficult to talk to you about it, with you being mad at me." He glanced up and continued quietly, "Why are you mad at me, Les?"

I shook my head, "I don't know, because the only time you come over is when you're looking for someone to have a good time with. Or because you came over with a problem and you refuse to share it so I can help you with it, or because I lo..." I stopped, he raised an eyebrow so I changed the direction I was going with that last line, "I loath the way you try to take advantage of my family."

He shook his head, "Fine, you want to talk about my problems. I developed these feelings for someone and I can't tell if they return the feelings. I can't tell them because of who they are to me and because of what people close to them would do to me if they found out, and the age difference really doesn't help either."

I smirked, "So, you finally admitted to yourself that you love Sarah? My parents will be thrilled, I think David will be slightly disappointed but he'll get over it, and Sarah loves the idea of being in love. But just so you know she doesn't actually love you, she just thinks she does."

He glanced up, shock in his eyes, "No, she doesn't love me, and she knows I don't love her. Davey thought he had it figured out, but he had only figured it out so far, and he knew that sort of relationship wouldn't last long between him and I."

"So what, now you're just friends with my siblings and you can't admit that you actually do love someone. I don't understand you, Jack, I thought you were the kind of person to just take the challenges in life and figure out a way to solve them." I said. I was absolutely certain my parents would be upset to know that Jack wouldn't be part of the family ever.

"I would but I don't think... I don't think people would take too kindly to the age difference between the person I like and myself." He was stalling, that much was obvious.

"How much of an age difference? And are you the older one or the younger one?" I asked.

"Seven years. And I'm the older one." Jack said quietly, before looking away quickly as if he had just laid his heart on the line and blatantly pointed out who he loved.

I rolled my eyes. "So you like someone younger than you, Jack. That's not the end of the world. My parents have a ten year age difference between them, it's no big deal." I ignored the fact that he was in love with someone my age.

"Okay, but the person's family is really close and they most likely would hate the fact that I love this person, especially after everything they know about me." He said just as quietly as before.

"Jack, anyone who knows you as well as my family does knows when you're mind is made up it's not going to change for anything, so they would know that if you love this person you're going to love them for the rest of your life whether or not your feelings are returned." I said truthfully.

"They may think that now Les, but what if the person I like isn't exactly who they would expect? What if the person's family knows the person can do a whole lot better than me?" Jack said worriedly.

"Come off it, Jack. Tell me who it is you love so you can get it off your chest or better yet go tell the person you love. With your personality, it's not hard to love you, so you'll be fine." The anger had was fluctuating between being there and not being there.

"You really think that, Les?" Jack asked, a hopeful look in his eyes for the first time since he got here.

"Yes, I do think that." I said.

"Well, I really hope you mean that, because it's you." Jack said quietly.

What! Woah, hold up. Did he just say what I think he just said? Me? I'm the person he loves. I sat in stunned silence hoping this wasn't some cruel joke.

Jack looked up and met my eyes, he had a scared look in his, then adverted them back to the table. "Les, I love you. I have for a while, but I figured you were expecting something different from me."

I gulped, "That explains a lot, you know."

He looked up shyly, the fear still in his eyes. "Les?"

I smiled, "Oi, Les, why did Jack come over tonight? Because he loves me. Oi, what's eating Jack? He loves me. Why won't Jack answer any questions about what's bothering him? Because he loves me. See how much it explains, Jack. And the best part is, I love you too."

Jack smiled, "Really?"

"Yeah, really."


End file.
